Well, they did it again. The Fifth Annual Spring Kickoff to Geocaching was a huge, no, a HUGE, success! There were 175 Geocachers that attended the event from 112 Geocaching teams! It’s getting bigger every year!

Canuck and Finn were kept very busy at the registration table getting everyone logged in:

It was a great time as we mingled about, chatted, laughed and relaxed with friends old and new. Stories were swapped, tales were told and plans were made for the upcoming months. The atmosphere, added to by the ambience of the pub, was one reminiscent of trappers coming in to town after a long winter. Mmmmm… there are a lot of similarities:

The past several weeks of cold weather broke and our schedule was as clear as the azure blue sky above us. We took the opportunity to finally get back out Geocaching after a five month hiatus and it felt great! Really great!

We decided to go to Shubie Park since there had been some new caches placed since we were there last. Shubie is one of our favorite local parks with lots of intertwined trails.

We started our trek near the camping area and then down through the lock system, into the no-leash area that circles Lake Banook. The caches we were looking for today were in a series following a trail that skirts a highway and one that we had never walked to the end of before. We followed several different trails back, making the round trip almost 11kms (7 miles).

The event will be held in Dayspring, just an hour or so away from Nova Scotia’s capital city of Halifax on July 10th, 2010 and it is being held in celebration of the 10th Anniversary of Geocaching in Canada.

On June 28, 2000 the first Geocache in Canada was placed in East River, Nova Scotia, just miles from the event site! GCBBA is still active and attracts many Geocachers every year who wish to visit this historic cache. Make this cache, and event, a part of your summer plans!

Prior to having to leave the Blomidon Provincial Park because of Hurricane Bill we had the chance to do some caching along the Jodrey, Woodland and Bordon Brook trails. These trails lead to and meet at the Look Off Trail which, once at the end, offers a fantastic view of the Minas Basin.

Our hike took us up the Jodrey Trail, then out on to the Look-off Trail and then we came back down the Woodlands Trail and then on to Borden Brook Trail.

The Look-off Trail is a short trail, only 1.6 km (1 mi.) that ends at a viewing station that offers views that makes the whole trip worthwhile. You get a great view of the Minas Basin as well as Five Islands Provincial Park which is located about 24 km (15 mi.) across the bay.

The Jodrey Trail is a 6 km (3.7 mi.) long trail that skirts the 183 m (600-ft.) sea cliffs with numerous viewing stations along the way overlooking the Minas Basin. This trail winds through a sugar maple, yellow birch and beech forest and near the park’s only bog. At Indian Springs Brook, a cairn commemorates the gift of 162 ha (400 acres) to the park by the late Roy Jodrey.